


The Shift of Shapes

by Dopeydonut413



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Changling bonding, Eventual Romance, Mystery, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-01
Updated: 2019-09-03
Packaged: 2020-02-10 15:57:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18663580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dopeydonut413/pseuds/Dopeydonut413
Summary: Basically, another shapeshifter (you) comes aboard the station, but you're not another member of Odo's race. I will try to update the tags as I update the story as it develops. There will be some darker themes coming.





	1. Is Odo a Baby?

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah so this is my first try at writing an self-insert story. If you have any tips or anything, I'd love to hear them, but I am also trying to do it a little out of the box so to say. Thank you for reading!

“Do you ever think about how Odo could be considered a child?” Chief O’Brien said drunkenly to his drinking buddy of the night, Julian the Chief Medical Officer.  
“What do you mean?” Julian asked while taking another sip of his drink. “Odo acts older than the rest of us... he’s like a curmudgone, a curmurgeon, a CURMUDGEON!”  
“Shhhh!” O’Brien hovered his finger over Julian’s lips, “no think about it, if you think about his ability or inability to copy humanoid forms, it’s kinda like when molly plays dress up with Keiko’s clothes”  
“Oh please, Odo’s lack of ability to perfect a humanoid form is not like your daughter playing dress up!” Julian laughed slurring his words together slightly. “You just miss your family, so you’re making things up”.  
“No!” O’Brien said in a loud whisper and leaned over, “If you think about it, those shapeshifters don’t age at all do they? You don’t know how old Odo is”  
“Well I know he was found 50 years ago” Julian cut in.  
“Yes, but he doesn’t age, does he? The only indicator of age is his ability to shape shift. Like Molly not fitting into her mother’s clothes” O’Brien set down his mug of Synthale on the table.  
“I still don’t see what this has to do with Molly playing dress up” Julian rolled his eyes and looked over at his yellow clad friend.  
“Well, like Molly, he can’t exactly replicate the look that his… parents?” he raised an eyebrow as he considered the possibility of Odo having parents, but then nodded and continued, “Parents can. He can’t fill out the exact details of a humanoid shape just like Molly isn’t big enough to fit into her mother’s clothes” he said setting his fist down on the table next to his reading tablet.  
“So you think that a shapeshifters skill at changing shape can indicate their age? So the eldest shapeshifter is a master at changing shape” Julian pondered this for a moment, staring a spot on the table while O’Brien took another swig.  
“And because the shapeshifters show no sign of aging, the eldest one has got to be the coolest, and probably even the leader!” O’Brian exclaimed.  
“Oh, now I know you’re drunk!” Julian laughed.  
“And think of how much of a baby Odo must feel compared to those elders” O’Brien smirked, “He’s like an angst teen who is constantly reminded of how much further to go until he reaches adulthood”.  
A thought occurred to Julian, “Do you think that’s why he’s never had any romantic interests? Kids aren’t usually interested in having a romantic interest, so maybe if and when Odo expresses interest in someone that’ll be indicative of his mental age?”  
O’Brien laughed heartily, “Perhaps! But then again, I don’t really know anything” He pressed his hands on the table and stood up, “Come on, let’s play another round of darts”.  
The two of them got up from the table and stumbled and shuffled their way over to the dart board. Unbeknownst to them, someone at a table not too far away from them watched. They cleared their throat and out of their mouth came a strangled, “ddd ARTs”. Another clearing of the throat then in the same accent and tone of voice that O’Brian had just said the word, so did the stranger in the back of Quark’s bar.  
The stranger pulled their cloak closer around them and walked out the door, turning on the promenade and walked slowly, as if looking at the shops. They wandered for a while, staying close to the bar and in the shadows, away from the cameras. Not too soon after O’Brian and Julian came stumbling out of the bar, laughing arms on each other’s shoulders as they made their way to their living quarters. The stranger smirked, noticing that O’Brien was empty handed and waited for him to turn the corner before checking the locations of the cameras again. Turning away, their cloak melted away into a black and yellow uniform and they strode back into the bar.  
“Sorry Quark” O’Brien, or so it seemed, said to the Ferengi behind the bar, “I forgot my tablet”. He quickly went back to the tablet he and Julian had been sitting at earlier and snatched it off the table, quickly exiting the same way he came in.  
Quark watched O’Brien with some curiosity as instead of rounding back around the corner he saw him leave earlier, O’Brian went the other direction. Quark shrugged, “I guess he had something to do” and went back to polishing glass, behind the counter of his bar.


	2. A Rookie Mistake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Odo discovers some information

Odo sat in his office, feet kicked up on his desk as he read the weekly criminal activity report. There had been rumors of movement of the Maquis in the badlands, but nothing too much out of the normal. Unfortunately, Kira couldn’t join this week, but Odo thought she must have had a good reason. Besides, this would allow Odo a few moments of extra time in his schedule to peek in on Quark.  
Odo had found it to be most useful to slip into the bar when Quark was in the back room and join a grouping of chairs at a table. That way he could listen in and see if Quark was attempting any unorthodox trades. Instead this morning, he was privy to Chief O’Brien running into the bar.  
“Quark!” the Irishman shouted. He waited a few moments before yelling again, “Quaaaaark!”  
Suddenly the Ferengi called out from the second floor, “What?!” he looked down and saw the Chief of Operations looking at him. “Oh, O’Brien.. what can I do for you Chief?” Quark rested his elbows on the railing.  
“Did I leave my reader in here last night?” O’Brien scratched his head, “There was a certain article on there I wanted to show the engineering teams, but I can’t seem to find where I put it”  
“You can look in the lost and found” the Ferengi smirked, “for a slip of Latinum”.  
“QUARK” O’Brien growled.  
“Fine, fine, but I’m surprised you don’t remember coming back in here and grabbing it last night. I thought you Irish Hu-Mans could hold your Synthale better” Quark stood up and came down the stairs.  
“Wait I came back to grab it?” He tilted his head slightly, “I left with Julian though”  
“Yeah and AFTER that, you came running back in here and grabbed it” Quark retorted.  
“Huh” O’Brien scratched his head. “You’re sure I came back in here?”  
“Yes, for the last time. And I am NOT paying to replace it” Quark snarled. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some inventory to do” he said as grabbed a pad off the bar counter and walked toward the back of the bar.  
O’Brien looked puzzled as he left, “Where could I have left that pad?” he pondered as he re-entered the promenade.  
Odo formed back into his humanoid form and followed O’Brien once he had left. Once back in his office he went back into his daily routine. He was a little annoyed that his excursion into Quark’s had revealed nothing except O’Brien’s apparent drinking problem. The whole idea of drinking seemed silly to Odo. Humanoids would purposely poison themselves to have a ‘good time’. Why would it be necessary to be drunk to have fun? It seemed counter intuitive that they would want to lose control of themselves to relax. Relaxing was something that could be done once everything was under control. He would never understand humanoids. Speaking of, Odo had things to do. 

Later that day, Major Kira stopped in, “Hello again, Odo”.  
“Major Kira! What a surprise” Odo said in a low tone, “Did you want to go over the weekly criminal reports?” She shook her head admonishingly.  
“Oh Odo, I don’t think we need to over them again” Kira smiled but then cleared her throat. “I wanted to ask you, if in your professional opinion, I should advise the Bajoran Council of the recent activity of the Maquis in the badlands”  
Odo looked at her, his eyes full of curiosity, “No, I don’t think you should inform the Bajoran Council of the Maquis movements” he said, his tone descending in pitch as his sentence ran on. “However, I would monitor communications on all subspace frequencies—”  
“particularly paying attention to any mention to the Bajoran or the Federation, I know, you told me this morning” Kira finished with a sigh. “I just, I don’t know. I’ve got this nervous feeling—”  
“Well, feelings, aren’t much to go on, and until we have something a little stronger, I don’t think we should inform anyone of anything” Odo grumbled. “Major, about this morning… did I seem any different to you?”  
“No, I didn’t think anything was out of the normal. I mean, besides the switch up of the usual way of explaining the reports. I thought the switch was nice, you letting me take the lead. Again, I’m sorry about being late this morning, but I’ll make it up you” She grinned at the Constable and straightened her posture.  
“Ops to Major Kira, you’re needed in Cargo Bay 3” A familiar soft but firm voice came over the communicator.  
“On my way!” Kira responded, “Look, I’ll let you know if I find anything, thanks again”. She quickly turned on her heel and left the room. 

Odo sat down at his desk and folded his hands under his chin while he deliberated over the strange occurrences. Surely, there’s no way that both he and O’Brien would forget interactions they had with people. He pulled up the security footage for the office, and sure enough, shortly after he left for Quark’s the screen revealed him re-entering the office and sitting at the desk and working on the computer. Then interact with the Bajoran Major when she came in. The impersonator seemed to remain calm—and that’s when Odo noticed a nervous tick on the impersonator. They seemed to tap their thigh with their fingers as they talked to Major Kira and didn’t stop until she left.  
“Computer” Odo barked, “show me my workstation’s logs”. His eyes scanned over the stream of data. “Huh..” he looked at the screen. “Someone wanted to know all the security camera locations”. Odo grinned to himself, whoever this person was, they were messy. They would be easy to catch. All he had to do was install a few extra cameras in a few prime locations. He got up and strode over to the exit. As Odo exited, hearing the swift swoosh of the doors behind him, a crowd of Bajorans passed. As he walked away he heard the same swooshing noise again as the crowd passed his office. He turned around to see the group continue along the promenade and his office doors close.  
Odo ran back into his office, and looked around, expecting someone to be there. But it was just as empty as before. He sat back down at his desk and pulled up the security footage. It was there that he saw a Bajoran cross from the back on his office, where the camera wasn’t pointed, across the office and out the door. Confused, looked through the days footage to see when that person had come in. Odo’s eyebrows lifted as he realized that a Bajoran never came into the room, instead it was the fake Odo that went to the back of the room moments before he arrived.


	3. New Beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Y/N gets introduced

Your name… you don’t have a name. As far as you could tell. You do know that a week ago you had been called Experiment Seven, and this week you had been called a myriad of names before you had settled on Y/N, temporarily until you could find something better. The people who had rescued you had freed you from your stay in that small, grey room- well more like a cell than a room- called themselves the Maquis. You could tell that they weren’t there for you, because they purged the lab for all it’s resources. Weapons, food, technology, anything they could get their hands on and that included you and then they blew it up to make it look like a weapon testing accident. They took care of you, told you that you had deserved a life outside that cell, and that you could pursue anything you want, like joining their cause. After watching their violent tendencies and in general how they operate you told them that you wanted to experience that freedom that they so valued and off on the next freighter you went. The Freighter Captain had sworn you to secrecy and said that he would tell the Cardassian Government about you if you told anyone about his ties with the Maquis. You both agreed forget each other’s existence after that. He dumped you on the Federation Station Deep Space 9, a stop on one of his trade routes.   
After that, you roamed around the station. You wore a dark cloak until you could get a look at one of the people leaving the station. Then, you walked around in their form. You managed to steal the visage of a middle aged Bajoran man and took careful care and catalogued the stations structure. There were several rings. The docking ring, the habitat ring, and then the promenade. Apparently, Ops, was above the Promenade. Whatever Ops was.   
First thing after surveying the area, you had to figure out how to eat. That was solved quickly when you broke a lock on one of the empty quarters and discovered a food replicator there.   
Next up, more information. You sat in one of the shops on board the station. You think it was named Quaks? No, Quarks. You sat in a dark cloak, using the same visage, you asked the bartender a few questions. What he liked about the station, his favorite drink, what to watch out for. Then he went on a spiel about how Odo, the station’s head of security ruined a trade he was trying to make. Apparently, once the trader found out that he would have to come to Deep Space 9, cut off all ties.   
“I mean, his reputation for Justice” snarled Quark, “supersedes him! And it’s cutting into my profit!” the Ferengi exclaimed as he slammed his fist on the bar.   
You rolled your eyes, “Who is he to think that he can be the judge and jury. No one is without bias”, part of you didn’t agree at all with Quark, but you wanted more information on the security officer. After all, they would be your biggest threat on the station. Quark was about to say something more when his brother Rom came in.   
“Brother!” he shouted, “I would like a drink”.   
Quark sighed, “Sorry to cut this short” and went to the other end of the bar counter.   
You nodded and took your drink, that you paid for with a few stolen slips of Latinum, towards the back of the bar and sat at an empty table. Two tables away sat a two Terrans, it seemed they were all part of something called Star Fleet, one had a yellow and black uniform, the other a blue and black uniform. Oh, that’s nice, you thought, they let you pick the color of the uniform. You relaxed in your seat and took in your surroundings. You couldn’t help but perk your ears up when the two Terrans started talking about the Chief of Security, Odo. You almost couldn’t believe your ears when you heard he was a shapeshifter. Not only that but not a skilled one apparently. You could at least replicate humanoid forms. What kind of shapeshifter couldn’t replicate humanoid forms well? That was all there was to it really... although you wondered how he got his ability to shapeshift. Maybe the scientist that made you had make others. After all, you were Experiment Seven, maybe he was one of the six that came before you. That was probably it, and he had just made you better.   
You listened intently to their conversation and eyed the reader that was left on the table. After they got up to go play ‘darts’, you tried to copy the yellow man’s voice. That would come in handy later. You left to go wander the promenade for a while, keeping eye on the bar. Once the Terran duo had left sans reader, you shifted your form to match the Yellow one and ran back into the bar to snatch the reader. After your successful heist you walked around the deck and once out of sight of the camera, switched to your Bajoran persona and back to the quarters you had broken into.   
After reading what was on it and realizing that maybe the colors on the uniforms did stand for something as you had no idea what you just read, you planned your next move. You had to know where all the cameras on the station were and you should come up with an identity.   
You moved to the mirror and changed your shape around.   
Terran? Or Bajoran? Those seemed to be majority of the people on the station. Bajoran you thought. Now, Young, Old or Middle aged? Well, who would be the least suspected of anything… then it came to you and grinned. You changed your shape to look like a young Bajoran female child. Who could be suspicious of a little girl? This way, if you were found out, they might think of you as a lost or runaway child. You played with certain aspects, the length and color of your hair before deciding on dark brown, shoulder length hair. With that you decided to turn in for the night. Tomorrow you would try to find all the locations of the security cameras, so you knew where you could and could not change shape. After turning off the lights, you changed into your real form, a slim grey humanoid, with neck length black hair. You fingered the branding on your wrist. The Cardassian symbol for seven.   
When you woke, you shifted quickly into your little girl form. After you grabbed some food from the replicator, you decided it was time. You sneaked out of the empty quarters and carefully walked to the promenade. The promenade was mostly empty, and the shops were only starting to open. You wandered and noticed a humanoid that looked awful, wearing a Bajoran uniform, walking around on an early morning patrol. You were by the Bajoran temple when he walked by and made it look like you were about to enter, but once he passed you quickly backed out and followed him. You followed at a distance, and then watched him turn into an office. He was strange to you, he was not a Bajoran, but he wore a Bajoran uniform. Then it dawned on you. That was Odo, or so you hoped.   
Lurking outside his office, you waited for him to leave. This was perfect, all you had to do was wait for him to leave, then you could steal his form, go into his office, and steal some data about the station. The scientist told you were capable of spy missions, so you assumed this would be a piece of cake. You found a secluded corner and waited.   
After a while, you saw him leave his office. You grinned, it was go time. You shifted your shape to match that of the Security Officer. Then you quickly, but calmly went into his office, and sat at his computer. You had just about everything downloaded onto a pad for you to go, when a young, Bajoran Woman walked in.   
“Odo! Sorry I’m late” she sat down in a chair and crossed her legs. “Ready to go over the weekly criminal reports?” she asked with a cheerful smile.   
Shit shit shit shit you thought to yourself, “Yes”. You realized you didn’t know what Odo’s voice sounded like, maybe a basic male one? You coughed a little. “I’m Ready”.   
She looked at you a little curiously. “Everything okay there, Odo?”   
You nodded, “Yes, why don’t you start this morning”. You got up and sat near the red-clad lady.   
She shrugged and started talking about the report. You tapped your fingers nervously on your thigh as she went over it. Once she was finished she looked at you expectantly. “Eloquently put. I would monitor all subspace frequencies for mentions of Bajor and the Federation”, you offered.   
She narrowed her eyes at you, “I’ve never seen you so antsy Odo, is everything okay?”   
You nodded, “Yes, sorry I just have some work to get back to”.   
She looked surprised a small bit horrified, “Why didn’t you say so? I’ll stop by later” she stood up and left waved on her way out.   
“Thanks”, you choked out as she left the security office.   
You took a deep breath of relief. Phew, that was close you thought to yourself. Odo’s been gone a long time, hasn’t he? You asked as you finished downloading the stuff on the pad. You checked the security cameras, on the promenade deck and much to your chagrin you saw that Odo was in fact on his way back and would be here any second. You panicked and closed the footage windows and took the pad, running toward the back of the room, looking around for cameras as you did. Once you had found a hiding place, you hid the pad behind you, and stood straight against the wall, just out of sight and in a dark enough corner that once you had shifted your skin to look like the color of the wall, you were barely visible. You hid there as you hear the real Odo come in. Your heart beated quickly, but you knew you could be patient, you closed your eyes and waited, blending into the background behind you.  
You waited, for a long time. Odo seemed to have a lot of reports to sift through as he didn’t speak much as he worked. After what seemed like an eternity, you heard the door open. Finally, he left I can go now-   
“Hello again, Odo” came a familiar female voice.   
Shiiiiiiit, you thought. This was the end, he was going to find out that someone had impersonated him, and then check the logs and then he would find you back here...   
Strangely, Odo did ask her what she meant by seeing each other this morning. You thought you were safe until he asked if he had seemed different that morning.   
Oh no, he’s onto me you thought panickily as your heart rate went up. Then Major Kira got called to Cargo Bay 3 and you were relieved. Until…   
Computer” Odo barked, “show me my workstation’s logs”.   
No no nonononooo  
“Huh...” he said quietly. Then he got up and left.   
OH MY GOD I GOT TO GET OUT OF HERE. You came around the corner, and then seeing the crowd of Bajorans about to pass you readied your Bajoran person, but without the earring this time. You ran to join them in the crowd.   
“Hello, may the prophets smile on you today” you said the nearest one. You had heard the Bajorans say this to each other.   
“Oh hello there” the nearest lady responded. She noted the lack of earring, “Are you missing your earring?” She asked as you all walked away form the office.   
“Yes, I thought maybe someone had found it and turned it into Odo” you said a little sheepishly, tucking the pad into your sleeve.   
“Oh well, I hope you find it” she smiled at you and you smiled back, walking side by side with her for a while before eventually splitting off from the group. Once you were back in your quarters you breathed a sigh of relief. Now that was close.


	4. Beautiful Man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Plot thickens as Y/N learns more about Odo and infiltrates the community

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry it's been so long. But here is the next chapter. I hope you enjoy! I really appreciate any feedback or support you could give (it spurs me to write even more!)

Odo couldn’t believe it. He made a rookie mistake. He didn’t finish watching the video before leaving his office. He could’ve been killed. But that brought up some interesting information. Whoever this person was, they could change their appearance. They also had a chance to kill him and didn’t. Furthermore, they were still too messy to be a changeling directly from the Founders but they were also incredibly patient. They waited for hours. Or maybe not patient, maybe they were scared.

Odo sat in his chair and contemplated the possible motives of whoever it was. They did not seem like much of a threat. As they were only looking for locations of security cameras. So whoever it was did not want to be seen. Perhaps there was some sort of trade deal about to go on? But he never heard of any traders with these capabilities. Odo realized he was going to have to do some reconnaissance to figure out what exactly was going on.

He stood up and started looking at the map of the cameras, pin pointing certain blind spots and putting them down on his padd. Then he smiled a little to himself as he walked out of the office.

 

You couldn’t believe what you had gotten away with. You slid down the wall of your stolen quarters and shifted back to your grey form. Heart beating fast, you pulled your knees to your chest fearing the worst. What if Odo realized you were in there? What if he started a station wide search for you? You knew that realistically, you wouldn’t be able to stay on the station like this for very long. Perhaps it was time to stop changing shape and get caught. If they caught you as a little girl you might be able to understand more about the stations power structure, and if this station belonged to any government, they would be sure to place you somewhere.   
               Then if that was a planet, you could run away, and no one would ever track you. You could live out your life far away from the prying eyes of scientists. Besides, if you _were_ caught you could learn more about Odo and if he was Experiment Six. There would be some mark on him that would indicate it.  
               You stood, looking in the mirror at your natural form. You didn’t think that your natural form was that bad looking, but the scientist always seemed so disappointed when you stayed in it. Brushing the thought away you shifted your form to that of the little girl again. But this time, changing the age, perhaps around 10 years old.   
               “How about this? How about this? How about this?” you said as you tested different voices frowning. None of them seemed to fit. You spent the rest of the day playing with your appearance, trying different voices and mapping places where you could shift or not. You also decided that you should move quarters. They could check the logs for this section and see you coming in and out in different forms. It was best to start somewhere new.

 

 

Jake Sisko liked to wander around the promenade and watch people. The flows of people were interesting to perceive. Sometimes people would wander together in groups and then there were groups where while they walked near each other, they were truly alone. Although perhaps none so lonely as this one little Bajoran girl. She had only caught his attention after she walked around the promenade five times looking utterly lost. She seemed to be looking around for something and after a while she sat down in the corner, looking defeated. Jake could feel the sadness radiating from this girl just from where he sat on the bridge above the promenade. He stood and made his way down to the second floor, carefully making his way to the little girl. When he finally came up to her, he looked over her and she immediately looked scared and covered her face with her hands and arms.

He crouched down and in a soft easy voice, “hey, it’s okay, I’m here to help you”. He smiled gently, “I’m Jake… what’s your name?”

_Shit_ you thought, you hadn’t thought of a name. You looked panickily up at Jake and opened your mouth to say something, but nothing came out. You reeled at your own stupidity and shamefully looked away.

Jake seemed to take it as an indicator that you couldn’t speak, “Can’t say anything huh? Well I was sick once and I couldn’t speak for a week! But no worries. Can I take you to the chief of security’s office? I’m sure Odo can help you find your parents. I’m sure they’re on this station somewhere” he offered a hand to you.

You looked over at him and nodded. You guessed this would start your life as mute. Perhaps it was better this way, they wouldn’t be able to question you. You placed your small hand in Jake’s and stood up, sticking close to his side as he led you around the promenade pointing different things out to you like Quark’s, the Replimat, the Tailor and other shops until finally you were at the Office of one Odo.   
               You both entered through the doors, and Jake called out to Odo.

“Odo! I have someone I’d like you to meet” Jake called hesitantly.

Odo came from the back of his office and looked curiously at you and Jake, “And uh, _who_ do we have here?” he asked in his deep gravelly voice.

You looked away, it was a silly, but you had to wonder if he could smell the guilt off you.  Thankfully, it looked as if you were shy.

“This is well, I’m assuming she has a name, but she can’t seem to speak” Jake chuckled nervously, “I saw her wandering around the promenade, she looked lost. I thought maybe her parents might have come in looking for her?”

Odo stared at you, for what seemed like an uncomfortably long time. “There haven’t been any parents looking for their child… but I’m sure that they will show up eventually”. Odo pulled a chair and squatted down next to it, directing his attention towards you. “It’s okay. I am here to help. Please, come sit down”.

You looked up at Jake, after his nod of approval you quickly went over to sit in the chair. Odo moved in front of you.

 “I’m just going to look at you, if that’s okay” he said in surprisingly gentle voice. He held up your chin to look at your earring and looked around on your neck for any distinguishing marks. Then he moved to your hands and he tried to flip your wrist over. You suddenly pulled your hand back and curled up in the seat.   
               _oh SHIT_. Your mind raced, if he was experiment six he would see your mark and know instantly. He would call you out then and there.

“Oh, I’m sorry, did that hurt?” He asked tenderly albeit a bit pandering like. He very gently grabbed your wrist, “it’s okay, I won’t hurt you, I just want to look at your wrist”.

You looked up into his eyes, after making solid eye contact for a second and deciding to trust him, you flipped your wrist over for him. His eyes widened a little in surprise.   
               “Jake, I am not so sure this little girls parents are on the station” he lightly traced the number on your wrist. Odo turned to you again, “Until I can get a hold of your real name, I’m going to call you seven, is that okay?”.   
               You nodded curtly.

Odo rose and turned to Jake, “I’m going to leave seven here in your care while I go find Major Kira. I need to ask some questions about the Cardassian occupation of Bajor”.

You stood up in confusion, that meant that Odo wasn’t experiment number six then. He thinks you’re a child of Bajor. Jake noticed your movements.

“Odo- “, Jake began.

You clasped tight onto the nearest thing, which was Odo. He looked down at you, bewildered.

Jake smiled, “It seems like you have a fan”.

“It seems I have” Odo growled. 

You held on for dear life. You didn’t know what else to do.

“Perhaps you could send Major Kira my way the next time you see her?” Odo asked suggestively. He looked down at you and lightly and awkwardly patted your head.   


The young man, nodded, grinning slightly, “Of course. I’ll leave seven in your capable hands” he waved to you and left the office.

The shape shifter looked down at you, “You can let go of me now”.

Embracing the role of the child you shook your head stubbornly.

“Oh, come on now” he patted your head again. “It’s okay”.   
               _This is too easy_ you thought to yourself shaking your head and burying your face in his side.

Odo sighed and suddenly he transformed into a gelatinous arch, moving a few feet away from you and reappearing in his humanoid form.

Your mouth hung open in shock. This is when you realized that you and Odo were completely different kinds of beings. You fell backward in surprise and sat on the floor, gaping at him.

Odo looked at your expression intensely. He was gearing up to deal with crying and disgust from you, since children could be unpredictable. He was imagining what would happen next, the child running away, cowering in fear, looking at him with disgust.

Instead, you smiled widely at him. And clapped your little hands softly together looking at him as if he were the most beautiful thing you had ever seen. And to be honest, he might be.

He seemed a bit puzzled by your response, “you don’t find that scary?”

You shook your head.

“You don’t find that disgusting”

You looked at him in surprise, _as if_ you thought, _you’re beautiful_.   
               He looked at you for a moment or two longer. Then after a moment left for the back room.

You thought it was time to go. After a moment or two of his absence you scurried out the door and onto the promenade. Careful to not be seen you made your way off the promenade and out toward your new quarters, head pounding from all the information circulating in your head. Odo was not experiment six, he was something else. You thought you had been the better shape shifter, but it turns out he’s a whole different kind. After all, you couldn’t do what he just did, you could only stick to humanoid shapes. Once arriving in your quarters, you released your form and sprawled out on the bed.   
               From the corner of your mind, you couldn’t help but be curious about Odo. Where did he come from? What exactly were his abilities? You turned over onto your side as these questions haunted you. But one thought came surging back, _Whatever he is, he is beautiful_.

Odo came from the back room, hands carrying food from the replicator, “Seven are you hungry?” he asked as he came in. He looked around in surprise when she was no longer there. “Seven?” he called out again, setting the food down on his desk and skirting around the room looking for her. After realizing she was no longer in his office, he walked around the promenade looking for her.   
               “Odo!” Major Kira called, “I was told you wanted to see me?” She ran up to him on the promenade.

“Yes, Major. Come with me” he continued to walk around the Promenade looking for Seven as he did so, explaining the situation to her.   
               “I didn’t recognize any of the markings on her earring” he said, as they made their fourth loop around. “To be honest I thought it was fake. She also had a Cardassian symbol for seven on her wrist. Do you think she was an abducted child from the occupation and someone had dumped her here? Hoping someone would take her back to Bajor?”   
               Kira pondered over this, “To be honest, I am not sure. I find it weird that she would just disappear like that though. Although maybe not. If your assumptions are correct it may be that you just have to wait for her to come back to you. If she is traumatized to the point where she refuses to speak she may also be rather skittish. If we see her again I would like Dr. Bashir to look at her. There may be more to her speech problem than meets the eye”.

Odo nodded, “Then perhaps I will quit my searches for today”. Stopping by his office door.   
               Kira stopped beside him, “I would see if you can gain her trust, Odo”.

He hesitantly agreed, “I suppose, but wouldn’t there be others more suited for this?”

She looked at him, “at the moment, I think you’re the only one who can make a difference”. Kira smiled a little to herself. “Besides, I think this is a good opportunity for you”. She waved goodbye to the changeling as he looked dumbfounded at Major Kira and then walked into his office. He was still shocked by the girl’s expression. She didn’t look at him with fear but with wonder. Like he was wonder to behold. Not many people had ever looked at him that way.


	5. D’k tahg

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'Seven' saves the day and Odo

It was Odo’s new mission to get this Bajoran little girl to trust him. He told his security officers to keep an eye out, but heeding Major Kira’s advice, he told them not to engage. He was going to let this girl come to him. Of course, he could flush her out easily, but he wanted her to feel safe and comfortable with him.

Still, he wondered how she got on the station. He had searched all the ships logs and found no record of a little girl who was without guardian or who was unaccounted for. It was puzzling. She didn’t come back the first day, but on the second he saw her wandering around the promenade, looking at his door and hesitating before continuing. Odo was tempted to run out there and bring her in, but he thought he could try patience. He would be better able to gain her trust if she came to him.  He would wait another day, according to his officers the girl seemed to be able to work the replimat as she ate there a couple times a day.

 

You didn’t know what to do. You had run away because you were overwhelmed with information. Then after hiding out for a day you realized that the station did not seem to be searching for you. You thought they would be searching high and low for you… but they weren’t. Which was strange. A girl without parents, that was mute and possibly a taken prisoner of war? They should be searching the station for you. But maybe they were playing the long game. Maybe they didn’t want to scare you and wanted you to learn to trust them. But they would search for you if you didn’t show them that you could take care of yourself.

So you started eating at the replimat. You noticed the security guards would look at you, taking note of the time you were there and then walking away. You started to eat at a regular schedule, on the dot you would go to the replimat, sit at the same table and eat. Then take of your meal, walk around the promenade a few times before disappearing into the crowd. You ate just before the busy times on the promenade just so you could disappear into the crowd. After a few days of this, one morning you went to the replimat and sat down at your usual table. Then after taking a bite or two Odo came up with a Padd and what looked like a cup of coffee in his hand.

“Hello, Seven” he greeted gruffly, “Mind if I join you?”

You stared up at him, surprised before nodding quickly and taking another bite of your food.

After he sat down his coffee cup and hand took a gelatinous form and molded back into the shape of his hand. He used both hands to work the padd in his hands for a few moments, then looked over at your curious expression.

“Oh I don’t need to eat, I just pretend I do sometimes so I can blend into the crowd better here” he smiled and read on his padd for a few moments more. An uneasy silence settling between the two of you. After about ten minutes or so Odo cleared his throat.  
               “You’re much smarter than you’ve lead the others to believe” he started, shifting his weight in the chair. “You come to eat just before the busy times of the promenade, and then after eating you walk around the promenade several times to make sure that you aren’t seen walking back to wherever it is you spend your nights”, he smiled a little. “I am sure it is empty quarters somewhere but...” he trailed off, “I won’t search for it. I understand that you want to have a safe place”. He looked around the deck. “Still I appreciate that you come out here every couple of hours to let us know you’re alright, although that could also have been something to keep us from searching for you”. Turning to look at you, he grinned, “Either way, you seem very capable of handling yourself, that much you have proven to us… but I don’t imagine you let young mister Sisko take you to my office without there being a reason, I think you want something, correct?”

 _Shit_ you thought to yourself. You made eye contact with the changeling, blushing slightly at his ability to analyze you and nodded now looking down at your lap.

Odo nodded, “I thought so. But I take it after the other day you perhaps felt as though you couldn’t trust us?” he looked at you, trying to gauge your reaction.

You looked shyly away, _he’s not totally wrong_ you thought to yourself, but you were mostly overwhelmed. You gave a half shrug in response, still not looking him in the eye.  
               Odo frowned slightly, “Okay.. how about I make you a junior deputy?”  
               Your eyes snapped to Odo suddenly in confusion.

“That way”, his voice lingered, “you could learn more about me, and decide whether we are all trustworthy enough to help you”.  
               The offer was tempting to say the least, finding out more about Odo perked your interest, but you had to play this carefully, Odo already knew you were smart, perhaps too smart for a child. However, accepting the offer was a way to get placed onto the planet below, there you could create a more suitable identity, and figure out what to do with your life now you were free. You slowly started to nod your head at Odo, agreeing to his offer.  
               Odo smiled, “Okay, I’ll see you at 0800 hours tomorrow?” he asked, looking over at you.

You nodded eagerly at him, picking up some of the food and putting it into your mouth.

 

At 0800 hours the next day you straightened the clothing you were ‘wearing’ outside the door to Odo’s office before walking in briskly and standing still and stiff, waiting for Odo’s instructions. He was ready and waiting for you, leaning on his desk.

“Hello Seven” he gave you a smile and tilted his head at you before outlining the structure of that days work. “I’ll let you go after we finish our patrol around the promenade at 1500 hours, is that okay with you?”

You nodded eagerly and excitedly. You hoped he would shapeshift some while working today.

….. That didn’t happen. 1500 hours came and went and Odo didn’t shapeshift at all. You were a little disheartened, but you thought perhaps he would the next day … that didn’t happen either. After a few days the vendors had become accustomed to seeing you trail after Odo on his rounds around the station, and even began to look forward to seeing the two of you. They were all very nice to you, especially Quark, the owner of the bar. He also didn’t seem to see through your shifting abilities, so you were safe for now. After about a week you started to comfortably set into a rhythm, following Odo for a good portion of the day. You spent the rest of your day usually in your quarters or following Odo around on the station. Finding where his quarters were, his usual schedule.  
              

That is until one day when you were walking to report of Odo’s office, you noticed a loud commotion coming from Quark’s Bar. Being early in the morning, you were surprised, until you noticed a bunch of rowdy Klingon’s, Quark hiding in the corner, and Odo trying to calm down the Klingons. As you eyed them, you noticed one of the Klingons in the back pull out his D’k tahg. Without thinking you ran into the bar as the Klingon in the back of the crowd approached Odo. You remembered your training the scientist had given you in self defense, and swiftly knocked the knife out of the Klingon’s hand before it could reach Odo. Then one of the other Klingons pushed you a side, as more security guards ran in to help calm them down.  
  
               Stunned, you sat in the corner. What had possessed you do run in like that?

Odo stared at you from across the room. He pondered in his mind where a child would have learned how to knock a knife out of a persons hand, none the less a Klingon’s D’k tahg. That must have taken a bit of strength to do. After sorting out the cause of the problem between the Klingons and Quark, Odo crossed the room and knelt before you.  
               “Seven are you alright?” he asked, tilting his head as he examined you.

You nodded quickly and curiously moved his elbows to make sure he was alright as well.

He chuckled softly, “Seven you don’t have to worry about me. I cant be hurt by a blade” he made his hand turn into it’s gelatinous form as if to prove his point, “I can just morph around the blade” he smiled, and then frowned at you. “Unlike you. _You_ must careful. That was a very brave thing you did, but it was unnecessary”.

You frowned and crossed your arms, turning slightly away from him.  
“Seven, you’re just a kid-“

You shot him a glare, got up and walked away. 

Odo watched you stalk away angerly, clearly confused. He couldn’t help but be bewildered at your actions. He didn’t know any kid that could knock a D’k tahg out of a Klingon warrior’s hand. _It’s time to get some answers_ he thought to himself.

Odo stopped and tapped the badge on his chest, “Odo to Bashir”


End file.
